An Intercepted Message
by Vaughn's Jenn
Summary: ~:~ COMPLETE ~:~ What if Vaughn was at the restaurant when Sydney told Francie about her crush?


**An Intercepted Message**

_What if Vaughn was at the restaurant when Sydney told Francie about her crush?_

_~A One Chapter Story~ (I think…)_

Sydney picked up her cup of coffee and lifted it to her mouth, peering at Francie over the brim of it. She wanted to tell her so badly about her feelings.

They seemed to be the only thing that she couldn't share with anybody. Not her father, not Will, and especially not Michael himself.

She even opened her mouth a couple times but the words got stuck and she had to take a sip of coffee so she wouldn't look like an imbecile.

As she thought about her pro and con list, even though she was biased, she listened to Francie talk, always keeping at least half a mind on what she was saying.

And then she decided to tell her. After all, she wouldn't know the guy and she would understand and it would give her a plausible reason as to why she was so unwilling to quit.

It was ironic really, that the only person she could tell her innermost feelings towards was the person who knew almost nothing about her. Through no fault of her own.

"I have a crush on a guy at work."

She immediately saw Francie's eyes lift up with some inner light. She was the kind of girl who loved gossip and loved people confiding in her even more.

~:~

Michael Vaughn had wanted to see the place that Sydney talked about so frequently. And it was always easier to imagine what he couldn't have when he was in a familiar setting.

So he had come to the restaurant. Francie's restaurant. And it was a nice place. Friendly, good service, good food. All in all he was happy. And when he closed his eyes, he could definitely see Sydney in a place like this and could even almost imagine what it would be like to sit across from her.

And have normal conversation.

And then he heard her voice. Even though at first he thought he was being delusional, that he had merely imagined her voice, a quick glance around the restaurant found Sydney immediately.

As if his eyes were magnetically attracted to her.

Shit. He would've tried to get out of the restaurant but she was seated in a way that should he try to leave, she would see him and that would completely mess everything up.

So he did the only thing he thought of. Even though it was a dorky thing to do. He put up his menu and ducked down behind it.

But he couldn't help tuning in on her words.

"I have a crush on a guy at work." 

Despite himself, he nearly lifted his head so that he could watch her saying this but stopped himself in time. It was crazy how he always seemed to lose control when she was near him.

~:~

"Really? Who is he?"

Sydney felt almost giddy. She felt the burdens and the pressures of her job lift away. Above all things, Francie was good at listening, reasuring, and saying the perfect things to loosen someone up. 

She was no longer Agent Bristow. She was Sydney, just plain old Sydney, talking to her best friend about a guy.

~:~

"Really? Who is he?" 

To tell the truth, Vaughn was not expecting that at all. And he didn't realize until she said it, how incredibly tense he was. He had thought that she would spit out the name of some faceless guy or maybe even Will. But at her words, _a guy at work,_ Vaughn felt his heart fill with hope, though at the same time he willed it not to be true.

He wanted it to be him; he really did. But the torture of seeing her every day knowing that he couldn't have her would be intensified by the knowledge that she wanted him too.

So he tried to convince himself that she loved (had a crush on) someone else. But he couldn't really think about anyone. 

Until he thought about what she might have meant. Could she be talking about SD-6? If that was the case, then Marshall popped into his head.

Though Marshall wasn't the suavest of guys, Vaughn knew that Marshall had a sweet, dorky-like charm about him and that that had endeared him to Sydney.

But as soon as he thought about Sydney having feelings for Marshall, he knew that he didn't want it to be true. He wanted to be the one. The crush-guy. As much as he hoped it was someone else, he wanted it to be himself even more.

~:~

Sydney grinned at her friend. It was such a relief to finally unload. She leaned in, suddenly feeling free and happy to share all the information she had.

"Someone in my department. We've been working together for about a year now."

Francie smiled back. It hadn't been until that moment that she realized exactly how much she had been excluded from Sydney's life. Though she had felt left out at times, this admission really let her know that she had been out of the loop.

"Really?"

But it was okay now. She understood. And even if she didn't, she wasn't about to interrupt Sydney as she poured out her heart.

~:~

Michael was still a mess. He know knew what it felt like to be a middle-aged housewife watching a soap opera, crying and screaming at the characters on TV to speed it up.

He smiled at his own imagery.

No more suspense. Please. Reveal your secret now.

No. 

No, don't do it. Keep it hidden forever. I don't want to know.

Yes I do. Say it. Say it.

~:~

"What's his name?"

Sheepishly, she said it.  His first name. 

"Michael. And he's… I dunno how to describe him. He's smart and he's funny… he's _so_ cute."

~:~

"Michael. And he's… I dunno how to describe him. He's smart and he's funny… he's _so_ cute."

Vaughn almost fell out of his chair. _His_ name was Michael! Sydney had had a crush on him for as long as he had had feelings for her!

The sky seemed to sing and darken at the same time.

It felt so good to hear her say his first name. Even though he had gotten used to her calling him Vaughn and understood why she had done it and even had come to love being called Vaughn (she made it seem so much more than a monosyllabic name), it gave him shivers to hear her calling him Michael.

So much more personal.

But torture all the same.

~:~

"Hot cute not goofy gute… ?"

"HOT cute."

Sydney smiled, she definitely felt the years peeling away as she confided in her friend… and realized how long it had been since she had last done so.

~:~

"HOT CUTE."

Vaughn blushed. And for once, his mind was actually blank. He could only listen, biting his thumb while remaining crouched behind his menu as he waited for her next words.

"So?? Wait, is he the guy that gave you the Christmas gift?"    yes I added this part

"Yeah." 

Francie couldn't help but noticed the way that Sydney's eyes lit up when she mentioned the Christmas gift. She really did like this guy.

And for that she was glad. Finally, there was a reason to all the refused dates, the horrible double dates, the worry about Sydney being hung up on Danny forever.

There had been a guy.

~:~

"Yeah."

Okay, so there was no doubt about it now. He was definitely the Michael she was talking about. After all, how many Michaels from work that she knew for two years gave her Christmas presents?

He was the only one he knew.

~:~

"So?? Why haven't I met this guy?"

Sydney paused, unsure of how much she was allowed to say and how much she wanted to say.

"He has a girlfriend."

Francie's expression dimmed a little as she sighed. "Of course he does."

~:~

"He has a girlfriend."

Michael wanted to slam his head against the table, just bang his head over and over and over again to get away from the sudden pain he was feeling.

Alice was the road block again.

But he couldn't do it again could he? He couldn't dump her again like he had last year with no obvious reason; especially after her father had died.

Dumping a woman for no reason after the death of a loved would be just cruel. And he didn't want to be the bastard.

~:~

"Which is ultimately irrelevant anyway. The bank has a policy against coworkers dating."

"You should quit."

Sydney laughed. "I can't do that. Besides, he'll still have a girlfriend."

"If you ask me, it sounds as if he has a little crush on you too. Did he give Christmas gifts to anyone else?"

"No. . . But he wasn't shopping on purpose. He was just walking around and saw the frame and thought of me."

"Or so he says. And besides, what's he doing walking around in antique shops? And also, what's he doing thinking about you when he's got a girlfriend?"

Sydney sighed, feeling almost helpless. "I don't know."

~:~

Sydney walked out of the restaurant, feeling, for some reason, freer than she had felt in awhile. It finally felt as if she had unloaded her soul. 

Crossing the street, she reached the other side and heard something drop behind her. Her bug-killer lipstick. She turned and bent down to get it and, in the process, saw a familiar figure exiting the restaurant.

Tall, lean, and gorgeous (even from the back if not _especially_ from the backside), Sydney knew who it was.

And stopped feeling the floaty feeling. Michael had been in the restaurant. And she had been in there. Talking about Michael. When he was in there.

Why hadn't she seen him? Had he heard?

And at that moment, for whatever reason, Michael turned around. And electricity filled them both as their eyes met though they were on opposite street corners.

And then he smiled a little. She smiled back at him a little uncertainly and put her lipstick in her bag.

Because she wasn't supposed to know him, she turned around and walked away. But the connection was still there and she knew that he was still looking at her.

Looking after her.

Her guardian angel.

Who knows what the next day could bring?

********END******** (Or should I go on? Need your input!)

Review!!!

Oh, and yes, I made up part of the conversation and added a few parts too so don't quote me on my quotes.

And this story only takes that single scene in context. In other words; you don't know if Francie told Will told Vaughn. We just know that Vaughn heard.

And isn't that so much better???

~Jenn


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